Face shield



'w. G. KINGv March l0, .1931.

FACE SHIELD lFiled July 2, 1928 Patented Mar. 10,` 1931 .UNITED-.STATES PATENT OFFICE WALTER e. KING, OI` NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN OPTICAL COMPANY,v

or SOUTIIBRIDGE, MASSACIIUsnTTS, A VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION or MASSAOHU- SETTS `FACE SHIELD Application fuedjJuiy 2,-1928. serial No. 290,007.A

This invention relates toimprovements in face shields and has-,particular reference to new and improved means of illumination and ventilation therefor. 1

The principal object of the invention is to provide new and improved light and air regulating means for a face shield. Anotherk object of the invention-is to providef improved lens holding means wherein lenses may be quickly inserted or removed from the face shield. n l

Another object of the invention is to provide improved adjustable Ventilating means for controlling the amount of ventilation.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved Ventilating .means through which no `injurious light or vflying particles may reach the eyes of the wearer.,

Another object of the'inventionisto vide simple, efficient and economical means of illuminating and Ventilatingy face shields. v Other objects and advantages' of the invention will be apparent from the following descriptiontaken in connectionwith the ac'- companyin'g drawings and it will be apparent that many changes maybe made in the arrangements of parts and details vof construction without departing' from they spirit of the invention as expressed in the accom-v panying claims. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the exact details and arrangeV ments shown and described as the preferred forms only have been kshown by way of illustration.

Referringto the drawings Fio. I is a rear perspective view offa face' shield embodying the invention; Y y,

-Fig. II is a fragmentary sectional View on Vline II--II of Fig. I; z

Fig. III is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of the invention;

Fig. IV is a sectional view Online ofFig. III; n f f f' Fig. V is a front view of the' lens holding means; 'f' J IV--IV Y flying particles or 'pro-i Fig. VI is a sectional view on line VI-VI of FigxV Showing the parts separated.

In many industries kworkmenare exposed4 .to injurious heat or'light rays, to dust Or flying particles or missiles against which they `must be protected by a shield or mask. These masks provide the necessary protection but are very cumbersome and uncomfortable to the wearer as they completely surround the face and hinder breathing and cause .undue perspiration, particularly workmen are exposed to intense heat... The

vision of the wearer, vor the lenses become in cases where the Y' missiles scratch andblur `V the lenses to the eXtent'Of robstruotingthe n broken and the workmen imust discontinue work until the lenses have been interchanged or replaced. vIn man instances the workmen have been overcome bythe intense heat and forced to remove their masks and rest during their work. These undesirable features caused much loss of time and'eXpenseLto the manufacturer and much discomfort and discontent to the workmen.

It is, therefore, the prime object ofrmy in-- y vention to provide ventilation means or cooling the face shield and easing the breathing of the wearer, thereby forming ,a comfortable and more'desirable shield. Another great advantage of my invention is that the lenses may be Vquickly. interchanged .or replaced when they havebeenscratched and blurred or broken by flying particles;

Referring to the'drawings wherein similar reference charactersv denote parts throughout,l I

aluminum, fiber board or other non-inflammable material1 and cut, bend and overlap the same at various places as indicatedat i2 'corresponding form the face shield l bytaking a piece of sheet materialgsuch as to form the front portiony 3,.side walls 4 and j the upper and lower walls 5 and 6. rIhe overlapping portions 2 are secured together by the rivets or other suitable means 7 an thereby form aj rigid shield WhiChwhen worn by the wearer completely surrounds the' face and provides protection from the intense heat of the work, injurious light rays and flying particles such as hot chips, molten metal, etc. The front portion 3 is provided with a suitable window 8 through which the workmen may view the work without danger of injury to his eyes. The window S is formed by attaching a frame member 9 within an opening formed in the front portion 3 and is provided with a shoulder 10 on which the lensesV 11", 12 and 13 are seated.

A suitable lens retaining rim 14 is placed over the lenses and isprovided at oneA end.

withthe slot 151 for the thumb screw 1'6.' and at' the opposite end' with the notch 17 -for the thumb screw 18. The slot 15 and notch. 17. provide means whereby the rim may be easily loosened or removed for the interchangen'ientor replacement of lenses. The thumb screws 16and'18 are threaded: intothe frame member 9 and are used'to secure the.lenses'1112 and lwithinthe frame.- Thelenses may be removed. from the. face shield. 1 by. loosening.v

the thumb screws 16 and: 18 and sliding the lens retaining rim 14 sideways until the notch 17 disengages the thumb screw 18.

rIhe rim l4 is then swungl about the screw 16 as illustrated by the dot' and dash lines inFig. V and the lensesmay then be replaced or interchanged. The frame member' 9 is secured to the fronty portionz3 by'thelange 19y and the screws'20l TheV eyes of workmenV exposed tointense light, suchv as workmen employed in electric .arc welding must be protected against` the intense light by using. properly coloredglass. The window 8-is,.th'erefore,' providedwith a colored light retardingflensasindicated at 12. This lens may be any of` the wellllrnown types'of lig'ht retarding lenses. In the same way protection may ybe given tov the eyes against injurious invisible light and heat rays by making one of the lenses of' a properly prepared invisible light' and heat retarding compositiony suchA as a-metallic coated or similar lens 13. These lightl and'heat" retarding lenses are an expensive type of lens and are, therefore7 protected from flying particles by thense of an'ineX-pensive cover glass 11. W hen the scratched or blurredit mayA be removed and replaced at awsmall expense.

The mask orshiel'd-is ventilatedY as shown in Figs. I and II. through the openings 21 formed in the side walls 4. The'openings 2.1 are provided eXteriorly with'the curved vent shields 22 which aresealed. on three sides and opened'A in the rear to prevent injurious light rays or flying particles from reaching the'eyes of the wearer.

The openingsarealso provided internally with the slide plates 23`-adjustably miountedin the slideways 241Go* increase ordeerease the size ofthe openings 21. lThe slide plates 23 cover glass 11 becomes.

provide means by which lthe amount of ventilation may be controlled. The vent shields 22 andl slideways 24 are secured in position on the face shield by the rivets or similar means 25. Y

In Figs. III and IV, I have shown a modified form of vent control in which the opening 21 is covered by the arcuate vent shield 26 formed with a rearward opening 27 and slot 28. 'A slide plate 29 is positioned within the arcuate ventl shield 2 6andfi'sheldin position'and operated-by thethumb piece 30.' The slide plate 29 is operated by moving the thumb piece 30 toY increase or decrease thesi'zeof the opening 27. The slide plate 294 provides means for controlling the amount of ventilation and may be adjusted without removing the face shield.V Although I. have specified that this particular face shield is made of sheet materialI which is.4 cutandabent it maybe formed by pressing't'he material into: the shape desiredl or similar means 31.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I havefprovidedfsimple ellicient and economical meansor'i'lluminating. and ventiilating face' shields wherein their amount of ventilationmayl be controlled and theilluminating means may be quickly interchanged or replaced.' Y

Having described my.'invention,:].Y claim :y 1

1. A device ofthe character 'describedicomf prising a faceV mask having opposedI ventilationopenings therein, an arcuate shield over eachopeninghaving alongitudinal` ventilation aperture andf a transverse slot?,` means movable in the slot and closure `means attached tothe said' movable means to openand close` the aperturesin the arcuate shield 2. A; device off the character describedcompris-ing a facemask having a: sighty opening therein, alensframe having a-lens seattheree onand a portion litting around the sight opening and securedtothe mask', alens in the lens seaty and? a lense holding member over thelen's, saidlens holding member having a peripheral` flangeportion formed with a slotted pivot onA one'side and a' notch on the opposite side whereby iti may be moved on the slotted' pivot torelease thenotch and then swung' on' the pivot to release the lens.

3. A device of the character describe'dcomprising a face mask having al sight; opening therein, a lens frame having' a'fshou'ldered len s seat thereon anda `portion fitting aroundthe sight opening Yand seeu'redto themaskfalns in the lens seat anda lens holding member having portion itti'n'gwithin the lens-seat and over the-lens havinga flanged por;d tion' overlying the endy ofj lens seat, said flanged portion having a slotted pvotonone sideand'a:matchenthe-.oppesiteside1whmeby 4it may be moved on the slotted-pivot-to're'- longitudinally of the Vslot 28.

opening having a longitudinal ventilation aperture and a transverse slot, means movable in the slot and closure means attached to the said movable means to open and close the aperture in the arcuate shield.

`WALTER G. KING. 

